Can Stepmothers be Saved? Another Look at 1 Timothy 2.8-15

Abstract

In this paper I attempt a new reading of the passage found in 1 Timothy 2.8-15, to try to show how it might be read by women today. The difficulties of reading such patriarchal texts from the canon of biblical literature are not trivialized or overlooked, and are addressed by a selective survey of how this passage has been read in different contexts through the history of interpretation. The resulting reading neither removes this problematic material from the canon, nor denies the oppressive uses it has been put to in keeping women out of positions of power in various church communities.